MLL's Stripes: Hans Wittelsberger

September 3, 2020 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL) News Release

The 20th anniversary season of Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was unique. Some of the most important people to the success of the season, that are highly visible yet seldom recognized, are the referees.?

Hans Wittelsberger was destined to love lacrosse.?

Hans' grandfather, Bill, founded the Maryland Lacrosse Club in the 1940s and it was run by Hans' father Raymond. Raymond was an All-American at Loyola, and Hans' cousin Franz was an All-American at Johns Hopkins University.?

In one of the most prominent lacrosse communities, the Wittselbergers were catalysts for the sports growth and development.

Wittelsberger, like fellow official Brian Abbott, has a strong football connection. Wittelsberger started with MLL when the league began in 2001. He has worked for the NLL as well. However, in 2003, Wittelsberger found the demands of being both a college football official and professional lacrosse official too much to juggle and he put his MLL career on pause. He rejoined MLL in 2019.?

Wittelsberger could not completely walk away from the medicine game and continued to officiate the collegiate ranks. As far as collegiate officiating accomplishments, Wittelsberger has refereed seven Division I National Championships and two Division III National Championships, in addition to several national semifinal matchups.

Throughout it all, Wittelsberger has been the Coordinator of Training Events for the National Intercollegiate Lacrosse Officials Association (NILOA) where he is in charge of conducting officiating clinics throughout the country.

Wittelsberger was initially nervous about the 2020 season, but in the end he felt it was a massive success.

"With COVID-19 and not having officiated a lacrosse game since mid-March, I was

anxious to get back on the field," Wittelsberger said "Having the benches on opposite sidelines worked out better than I thought. There were minimal issues with substitutions and you didn't have any problems with opposing players and coaches interacting with each other throughout the game.

Wittelsberger has clearly kept his lacrosse skills sharp from his time in the collegiate ranks and has the respect of his fellow referees.

"Hans is one of the best officials we have," Abbott said.? "His feel for the game is special and certainly allows me to be at my best."

When he's not at work, Wittelsberger is husband to his wife Cherry of 27 years. They are accompanied at home by their two dogs, Bella, a black lab, and Harley, a yellow lab.

Major League Lacrosse Stories from September 3, 2020

• MLL's Stripes: Hans Wittelsberger - MLL
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• MLL's Stripes: Hans Wittelsberger - MLL

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